All Souls' Day
by Whisper Gypsy
Summary: Hermione has spent the years after the War ended to try and resurrect Sirius from the Veil. They meet yearly on the eve of All Souls to discuss ways to bring him back. Finally Hermione comes to a startling discovery in her research, and on that final All Souls' Day, she confronts her one-time love with her epiphany.


A/N: This is the Sirius/Hermione Oneshot that I have posted in response to my first poll, involving Mudblood. There is no similarity in plot, as this is a completely separate universe. Enjoy.

To everyone not familiar with the concept of All Souls Day, in honor of all in your life who are now further away from you, my prayers are with you. November 1st is widely known as the day to honor all the saints, both those canonized by the Church, and every person who has made it into Heaven, since the feast of the Eve of All Hallows (or Holies—and is known commercially as Halloween) as the liminal beginning of the celebration of their souls, has eclipsed into a costume-wearing, candy seeking, prank-playing night out. But, fewer people are aware of the holy day which follows right on its heels. November 2nd is the feast of All Souls, the day where we honor every single person who has died, and pray that those souls who are in hell, set an example to those yet alive to change their ways, pray that those souls in Purgatory cleanse their souls fully and make it to Heaven quickly where they can pray for our own entrance into Heaven, and pray that those souls in Heaven pray for us, asking them to ask God to grant us the daily graces we need. Now that I've explained my inspiration, and a bit of the backstory, Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and am nothing.

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She shifted from foot to foot, brown eyes darting between the hazy Veil and the simple pillars which supported it. _Just how old was this Veil, anyway? It's supposedly been here as long as the Ministry itself. I know it's in the Department of Mysteries, so not much is known about it, but it appears either Greek, Phoenician, or even Egyptian, in origin. Which is it? Why was it created? Who would make such a thing? What was its original purpose? It consumes life, calling out to souls, entreating them individually, summoning them into the Veil. Why? If I were one of the souls who had disappeared into the Veil, what could be so important that I would call out to someone, intending to drag them into that oblivion with me?_ Hermione bit her lip, and glanced down at her iPod as the pause that filled the gap between songs began. In the pause, she could hear the whispers calling her name, begging her to come closer. She stepped forward to the siren's call, until the next song kicked on, and she stepped back to where she had been.

Tempting easily, but in no way alluring, the veil was a puzzle, a mystery. There was nothing the brightest witch of her age enjoyed more than a challenge no one else had been able to master. She moved away from the pillars, turning her back on the mystery, and walked over to her bag on the stones closer to the edge of the raised floor the Veil was a part of. She undid the metal clasp and parted the folds of cloth, sliding her small journal, a Muggle pen, and an ancient History of Magic tome that had previously belonged to Dumbledore out of the bag. She opened it to the marked page, and flicked through her journal until she found the incantation she had worked on for weeks, rushing against her deadline.

She nodded to herself resolutely, and tucked her materials away, iPod included. She rose, knees cracking in protest. She walked over to the whispering veil, completely calm. She had made her decision. She brought her wristwatch up to her face, checking that she still had two minutes before midnight. The threshold between the day of all saints and the day of all souls was upon her, for it was the night claimed by both, their marriage bed.

She moved swiftly in her Muggle jeans and emerald Weasley jumper, belonging not to herself but to Harry, though the H emblazoned on the front belied that fact. She walked right up to the shimmering evanescent surface before her and whispered the words she had formulated and rehearsed for weeks, "_Semper laetitia, semper tenerum. Reverto agape._" She flicked her wand in a delicate tree-shape, pausing at seven different points, adding a flourish at the last pause.

She closed her eyes, listening as the siren's songs grew louder and more intense, but dropping from feminine songs to masculine laughter, deep and full-throated. She smelled ginger snaps, and lemon tea. A small smile flitted across her lips as she thought she could taste his cherry kiss once more, a reminder of their mistletoe encounter.

She opened her eyes and found her gaze trapped by a pair of sparkling black eyes, still within the Veil's embrace. "Sirius," she whispered.

"Hermione," his voice sounded far away, and his words reached her ears just after her mouth saw his lips shaping them.

"We've all missed you. Harry misses you." Sirius nodded at her, waiting for what he knew she would say. "I… I have missed you, Sirius. More than I should." She paused, waiting for him to say something, anything.

"I love you too, kitten," came the delayed sound to his mouth's caress against his sinful tongue.

She couldn't fight the grin that danced on her face at his casual affirmation of their love, still so fragile. She moved along the veil, pacing to gather her thoughts. "I've been researching ways to bring you back for years now. Every spell I've found, every potion, each method seems doomed to failure. You know that, right?" He nodded at her, strangely reserved; _perhaps death changed you more than prison_, she mused disjointedly.

"I cannot bring you through. And you know that. You knew it as I met you each year on All Souls Day. So why do you keep meeting me?" She ignored the traitorous tears which scalded her cheeks and burned in her throat, her voice remaining strong, if a bit thick.

"You needed me," he said simply.

She looked at him, heart aching. "But I'll still need you, and you're not going to be here. How do I make this work anymore, Sirius? I only get to see you for six hours out of a year? And even then, I cannot touch you? What kind of half-life are you offering me?"

"I am not offering you any kind of life, sweetheart. You have asked for that life yourself."

Her heart lodged in her throat and beat twice. "You're not offering…? You mean… But you love me?"

"Of course I do, love. But I'm dead. I cannot offer you any kind of life, with or without me. Only what has been, Hermione."

She shakes her head in denial of his words, though she knows they are true. "Why torment me, then?"

Her lips quiver, but she bravely faces the reality she knows he will explain to her, his little Gryffindor. "I can offer you nothing, but eternal memory, kitten."

She stepped back from him, mind whirling with possibilities, formulas, and equations, brow wrinkled and lips biting at each other. "How?"

"Follow me, Hermione. Come to me, and listen to the siren song." He stretched his hand out to her, and she put aside all the calculations in her mind, focusing solely on the alluring sound of the laughter of the man she loved.

And she stepped forward into his waiting arms.

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E/N: My Latin is very rusty, but I used rough translations to describe what I wanted the incantation to mean: always laughing, always tender. Return the sacrificial love. Semper: Always, Laetitia: Joy, Tenerum:tender, Reverto: Return, Agape:Sacrificial, self-less love. Forgive any grammatical errors in that language, and if anyone has a greater grasp of that language and could help me to construct that phrase, pm me, please. Without further ado: REVIEW!


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